


Maiden Ship Pretty Cure

by NaCl1572



Category: Original Work, プリキュア | PreCure | Pretty Cure Series
Genre: Breaking the Fourth Wall, Comedy, Environment, Environmentalism, Fish out of Water, Gen, Magical Girls, Slice of Life, Small Towns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:48:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26187466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NaCl1572/pseuds/NaCl1572
Summary: Funabashi is a coastal town near the sea, flooded with tourists every year for their fresh seafood. The residents here are well-known with their friendliness and caring hospitality. This is Seika’s hometown, where she was born, lives and loves. However, an unfortunate incident happened, causing the amount of tourists to gradually lower over time. The truth in fact is, incidents like that are not anything random, but plans that have been devised all along. The legendary Pretty Cure, who are chosen to save the town, are connected together by fate...
Comments: 7
Kudos: 3





	1. Välikohtaus

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to give my thanks to [LazyKatie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazyKatie/pseuds/LazyKatie), for checking my work!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Välikohtaus" means "incident" in Finnish.

The sound of the alarm dinged across the room. Seika drowsily turned it off and got up with a yawn.

Normally, the sound of the sparrows outside and the tumultuous buzzing chatter of tourists sightseeing the town would wake her up, but not today.

The road to school was forlorn as well. Seika easily recognised another girl wearing the same white uniform and a beret as hers. She quickly ran up to her, "Mio-chan!"

"Yo." The girl named Mio waved. "It's quiet today, huh?"

"Yeah, true." Seika attempted to scratch her head as it was her usual habit, but touched the beret instead. "Isn't that incident, like, teeny-tiny small? I don't know why it makes a heap of people leave like that."

"It may be small for us, but not for the environment, I think."

 **Mio Hokaze** and **Seika Tange** had been friends for some time. At school, they sat near each other, and their houses were also only a few blocks away. Occasionally they went to school together as well.

The aforementioned "incident" turned out to be the tragic death of dozens of seagulls, with a large amount of petroleum that had been dumped onto the sea surface being the cause. First, the animal-loving people decided to turn their backs after knowing of such ruthless actions. And then the people were sick of the unartistic view of the black, slimy seaside and the trash littered by irresponsible tourists.

The town mayor had yet to speak up about this. Outsiders took that as persistence, or a silent confession. The amount of tourists gradually dropped, and by this year, the number of people coming to this town was less than fifty, most of them were reporters and inquisitors who came here to investigate the matter. Residents were making attempts to clean the seaside and collect the trash. Still, the gossip remained, and more and more accusations and assumptions crafted by outsiders began to rise on social media.

The two finally reached their destination: Funabashi Municipal School. All students of the town attended here, so the number of students was quite large. However, after the wayleave of the tourists, some people left as well, and many students transferred to other regions.

Aside from that, everything was as usual as it could be. Mio forgot her homework, Seika cracking jokes here and there, and the class continued normally.

Mio had some work to do as a member of her club, and would go home with her younger brother, so Seika went home alone.

The bright sunset illuminated the scene of the beach once full of bustlings. Today, no one came to investigate the incident, so the beach was temporarily Seika's territory. She sat down on the sand, put down her beret, enjoying the scenery, and heaved a sigh. She usually was a bright and cheerful girl, but it seemed that ambience also influenced one’s personality.

Suddenly, Seika saw something off out of the corner of her eye. It was intermingling with the orange light, but she could make out of it somehow. It was pink, or white, like a jellyfish, stranded in the half-cleaned petroleum on the sea surface.

She rushed there at once. The place was surrounded by a fence, but if she did not rescue it, what would happen then? Luckily, the fence was made from bands and paper, so it was no big deal. She steadily climbed through and found the thing she saw almost immediately.

It was a seagull, a small one. So small that she mistook it as a sparrow at first. Its feathers had an unusual light pink colour, which made Seika wonder if that was a seagull, a sparrow, or a flamingo.

Still, first and foremost, she had to do something rather than just hold the little thing and stand there.

She came back to her home as fast as she could, went to the bathroom, filled a basin with water, and gently washed the oil sticking to the wings as the seagull was still unconscious. However, water and oil did not mix, so she needed some kind of solvent to do the trick. Would soap be okay? But what if something worse would happen after that?

All of a sudden, the seagull's eyes shot open. Seika let out a small shriek. The other also let out the same thing, but with a lower vocal.

"H-Huh?" Seika dumbfounded for a moment. "Can seagulls scream?"

"I don't know, can they?"

Seika was so shocked that she could not let out a scream anymore.

"Y-You can speak?"

"I can!" It exclaimed. "Where am I, by the way? And... urgh!"

It tried to spread its wings, but suddenly fell over.

"Wait, stay still! You're covered in oil, there's no way you can fly in this state!"

"So that black thing is called 'oil', huh?" It docilely did as she said. Seika carefully washed the oil. "It almost choked me to death. Thanks for saving me."

"It's alright. And can you tell me your name?"

"It's **Gannet**. And yours?"

"Just Seika is fine."

After some time, the cleaning was done, only some places that were hard to clean remained, and Gannet proposed to submerge himself in the water basin instead. In the meantime, Seika got changed into her civics and did her own stuff.

* * *

That night, Gannet could fly again, but he reeled a little in his tracks. With that, he decided to stay for the night, chatting with Seika while she was doing homework.

"I think I can keep you in my house only for tonight." Seika said. "My parents can't just let me raise a bird out of nowhere."

"Well, based on your reactions earlier, I _don't_ think I'm a _normal_ bird at all."

"True, you can talk." She grunted a little when she saw a mistake had been written in her worksheet. "I hope you won't be in some kind of circus in the future."

"By the way, I wanna ask."

"What is it?" Seika also stopped writing.

"Is this Funabashi town?"

"It is. Now that you mention it..." She held her chin in inquiry. "Why did you come here?"

Gannet shook his head, if he ever had a neck. "Sorry, I can't tell you."

Seika stood up from her seat and crouched down on the floor, "Tell me please~"

"I said no, you hear me?"

"Pretty please~"

Gannet could not believe that Seika's eyes were brighter than a puppy's.

"Just a little bit, okay?"

* * *

"Pretty Cure...?"

"Uh huh. They are legendary heroes who are recruited to save the day, or specifically, this town."

Seika clasped her hands together with an "Ooh!" and asked, "But from who?"

"A guy named **Iceberg**. I don't know what his real goal is, but I was informed that this town will be doomed if I don't act quickly. My mission is to find them. It took so much time for me to fly across the ocean to come here. You see, my comrades, they had the same mission too, but they went missing mid-journey."

Seika gasped lightly. _So that's why…_

How tragic! Many seagulls sacrificed themselves even before they could do anything...

"I don't know what that black thing is called 'oil', but I'm sure that Iceberg and his crew are the ones behind this. My comrades must have suffered the same fate, but not as lucky as I am..."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Seika asked determinedly.

"Just keep this a secret first." Gannet proposed. "If other people know about this, it won't do much good. The Cures themselves need to hide their identity too, you see."

"I think I can do it." Her parents were still in the dark about a bird in their house after all. The bathroom had been cleaned nicely before that, too.

"Well, I think I'll go and find the Cures tomorrow." Gannet looked out of the window. "We might see each other some time. Thanks again, Seika."

* * *

The next day, Gannet was nowhere to be found.

 _Has he left?_ Seika wondered.

She had not said goodbye to him yet! But he said they would meet again, so perhaps that was not needed.

She had been talking to Gannet almost all night long, and because of that, she forgot to do her homework. It was Mio's turn to tease her again. She told Mio about what happened yesterday, but Mio did not believe her.

"A talking seagull? It's not April fools today, you know!"

After that, she decided to not mention anything further, especially the Pretty Cure stuff.

Today, both Seika and Mio went home together. The two walked in silence for a while. Mio was the ice breaker.

She spoke up, "Hey."

"What is it?"

"You said that talking bird… His name is Gunnet, right?"

Seika corrected, "It's _Gannet._ "

"Yeah, him. You said you had rescued him in that puddle of oil, then he might know something about the incident, as he can talk. Am I right?"

_"Keep it a secret."_

"Uh..." Seika began to feel abashed after Gannet's words from yesterday echoed inside her head. She could not say anything else besides another "Yeah".

They parted not so long after. Seika looked into the orange sky, and suddenly there was something flying above her. It was flying towards the beach.

Was that Gannet, or something else entirely?

Feeling some tingling sensation, she used everything she got and caught up with whatever that was.

* * *

The thing that Seika saw earlier, resembling a comet, had now landed onto the sand surface, a human form appeared after the lights surrounding it faded out.

It was a young man, wearing a simple white shirt with brown overalls, his light-coloured hair was stroked to the side. He observed the scenery around him, and smirked.

"What a beautiful spectacle. But it will be more beautiful with this."

He held out something like a small bottle containing a black substance, there was tag written " **Kerosene** " on it. Managing to find a distorted-shape water bottle buried in the sand, he picked it up, and poured the black liquid into it.

"Come and embellish this piece of land, my **Zagrya**."

The thing once called a "water bottle" now grew bigger and bigger, with long arms and legs, tainted with moss and dirt. The creature let out a deafening squall and started to cover everything around with mud and trash in its path. The half-cleaned shore now was even messier than it had ever been. The trash stuck to the dry sand, indistinguishable liquids began to ooze in random directions.

By the time Seika reached the beach, the scene was indescribable. Some people who lived nearby ran away from the creature's reach, some took out their phones, recording the scenery for posterity. Seika, after entering the beach, could not go back because of its mutinous deed, only managed to hide in a small cave nearby.

Some vehicles, including police cars began to surround the beach. Most people were soon evacuated to safety. However, Seika was not noticed as she was in the cave. One of the police noticed the man earlier, and reported to the chief. He nodded, and used an intercom to instruct some people with it.

Another policeman took out his hand speaker, calling out to the man. It seemed that he realized instantly, answering it with a gleeful wave.

"It's very dangerous there!" The policeman shouted. "Please come out at once!"

"Nah, I don't think so. My Zagrya is just enjoying decorating the beach. See?"

The policeman was dumbfounded. The chief began to instruct more, but there were screams and shoutings, and the signal was weaker and weaker, until he could not hear anything from the other side.

The young man only shrugged, "Sorry. Your snipers are useless now."

Cold sweats even began to accumulate on the chief's forehead. _How the heck_ did he know there were snipers and took care of them in such a short amount of time, all the while standing in front of them?

In the meantime, Seika was still hiding. She was so nervous that she began hyperventilating. Sometimes, the dirt that Zagrya vomited almost splashed onto her, the horrible smell made her want to regurgitate _everything_ she had eaten since today's breakfast along with it.

Suddenly, there was a familiar voice calling her.

"Seika! Why are you here?"

She flabbergasted, "Gannet...?"

"It's a shame that I have yet to find a Pretty Cure, but I can't believe that Iceberg and his crew begin to take action _that_ soon."

Seika looked at the young man outside, "Is that him?"

"No, of course not. According to his conversation with the, uh... police, he introduced himself as **Hellion**."

"And, what about _this_ thing?" Seika pointed to the creature while trying not to get its attention.

"It's called **Zagrya** , one of the main reason why this town recently is so polluted. But they're supposed to be harmless creatures, I don't know how it leads to this. I presume it's because of Iceberg again."

Seika trembled, "Can't we do something to stop it?"

"I'm afraid not. Unless it is purified by a Pretty Cure, even military weapons can't stop it."

"S-So… Can I be one, then?"

"One what?" Gannet was confused, but he soon realized what she meant. "You mean, you want to be..."

“I do!” Seika's voice become less stuttering. She stood up. “I may be oblivious to the incident that caused Funabashi to be ostracized, but I want to redeem its reputation again! I don't want your comrades' disappearances to be a waste!”

As the town's population decreased day by day, Seika did not recognize it at first. However, since the day she noticed the number the students of her school transferred out had almost reached the third digit, she knew her town would be uninhabited soon, and time was the only matter. What would happen if the news of a creature which spilled dirt and trash reached the media?

"That's why I want to be a Pretty Cure! I don't know if I have potential or not but… If I have, I'll do my best! I promise I'll keep the secret!"

Gannet's beak agave. He did not say anything in return.

"Gannet…?" She called. Her brows curved. "So I can't become a Pretty Cure, then..."

"No, Seika." He spoke in a small voice. "You _do_ have potential. How foolish of me, one of the legendary warriors has been with me the _entire_ time!"

A bright golden light illuminated from Seika’s chest, engulfing her, creating a bright, warmish void around her. The light soon condensed to a golden trinket, resembling a compass, with a chain and decorated with floral design.

"W-What am I supposed to do with this?” Seika tremulously grabbed the thingy.

“This is called a _**Navigation Gyrocompass**. _ To transform, you ought to shout _‘Pretty Cure Navigation’._ When the firneedle points to a direction and shines, shout _‘Launch’._ You need to do this quickly! Hellion and the police aren’t chatting right now, you know!”

From the corner of her eye, Seika saw some policemen were beaten by Zagrya, while Hellion told it to destroy things beyond the barrier that the police had put up. Civilians became more panicked, even those recording the scene had to flee for their lives.

Seika breathed deeply, “Okay.”

She rotated the cover to open it up. Inside it, aside from the usual numerical signs and the firneedle was a colourful background like a miniature world, as if it was looked at with a kaleidoscope. If looked closer, this background was exactly Funabashi Town when looked at from a map, but with more complexity and picturesque.

Seika began to say the phrase, but nothing happened.

“W-Wha...?” She tried again, “P-Pretty Cure… Na-Navigation…!”

Still nothing changed. The golden light began to fade, and more people were being hurt in contrast.

Seika had been watching many magical girl shows. The character shouted the phrase enthusiastically, did not care about others’ reactions, and fought with all their might on their first try. Yet, she somehow felt embarrassed. Would people say that she was crazy?

Still, there was no time.

“Seika, hurry!” Gannet’s voice urged her.

This time, she nodded sharply, raising the compass high, saying the phrase out loud.

**“Pretty Cure... Navigation!”**

The golden light began to lighten up once more, almost to the point of blinding Seika herself. As the firneedle pointed to the South direction, she used it as a sign for her to continue.

**“LAUNCH!”**

Seika, now being covered in the light, started to feel her own body somehow light as a feather. Her braided, blonde hair loosen up by itself, manifesting into two loopies tied with a golden chain, and another two longer braids. The void, as if solidified, formed a platform for her to land on, a pair of white and blue boots appeared the moment she landed onto it. Then a blue top with a white jacket and skirt became her outfit, adorned with blue anchor ornaments on her chest, her boots, and her hair as well. The compass enveloped onto her waist by itself, attached with the golden chain. She tapped it, and a pair of fingerless gloves appeared after that.

“The lodestar guiding through infelicities, Cure Galliot!”

After saying the words as if they were learnt by heart beforehand, she struck a pose that she had never imagined to do one herself. As Seika, now Cure Galliot came to her senses, she blushed almost immediately.

“W-What just happened?!”

She realized that right now, she was standing outside the cave. Her phrase and pose was exposed to the civilians. Some people took their phones again to take pictures of her, some rolled their eyes, murmuring that there was something wrong with her mind, children were not scared as before, they cheered wide-eyedly, shouting her Cure name in enthusiasm.

One policeman told her to flee, and Hellion seemed to realize her as well.

“Pretty Cure, huh?” He tilted his head in curiosity. “I’m sick of those police, so… How about we, the two of us, you and me, play a game together, then?”

Zagrya then rushed to her as Hellion dictated. Galliot began to sweat nervously. At school, her PE score was only above average, she would be smashed by it! As a natural reflex, she only managed to put up her hands to fend off the attack, and closed her eyes shut.

However, she did not feel any pain. She opened her eyes, and saw Zagrya groaning in pain and backed off. Galliot looked back at her hands. She did not believe that she could be _that_ strong.

“It seems that the game is going to be _way_ more interesting.” Hellion heartily chuckled. “Smash her into a pulp, Zagrya!”

Galliot could only jump and dodge the attacks. Gannet flew besides her, “We need a chance to deliver the final blow!”

“But when?” She shouted back.

“When the energy bar in the Navigation Gyrocompass becomes full, it will shine, and you’ll know it soon!”

What did he mean, energy bar or energy bar? But there was no time for puns.

Suddenly, the compass on Galliot’s waist began to shine. As if doing it so many times before, she tapped it, and the light manifested itself into her palm.

**“Pretty Cure...”**

She raised it up high, saying the words flowing into her mind.

**“Kalavirta Undulation!”**

And aimed it at Zagrya. The light turned blue, converted into a stream of fish, obliterating any impurities of it. Zagrya let out a scream, and it soon turned into a harmless squeak, and there were only sounds of water flowing.

Zagrya turned back to a mundane water bottle, but not a dirt, distorted one like before, but a brand new one containing fresh water. Galliot took it up, taking a sip after seconds of suspicion, and drank it as if she was a person stranded in a forest and found a bottle of water. She was very exhausted after the fight.

The crowd began to surround her for questions, while the police tried to chase them out. Cure Galliot used the chance to escape and detransform. She did not know how she did it, it just happened naturally.

Gannet flew and landed on her shoulder, “Good job, Seika! Or should I say Cure Galliot?”

“I think you can call me that whenever I transform.” Seika giggled bashfully. “By the way, how many Cures will we have?”

“That’s hard.” Gannet replied. “I just know that if they have potential and they want to be one, the Navigation Gyrocompass will appear. But this town is small, so I presume there are five at most.”

“Well, we’ll think about that later.”

* * *

The place was dark as it was in the depths of the ocean. The only thing that could illuminate it was a dim light made of jellyfish captured in cages made of sculpted seashells.

There were people sitting inside in the arranged seats, observing the outside world above the sea’s surface through the screen placed in the center of the room. Only one person standing, monitored the screen, as if it was a lecture.

“I presume that the first part of the plan was a triumphant success. All those seagulls had drowned in the petroleum.” The almost monotone voice belonged to a maiden, wearing a mask over her face and an elaborate gothic lolita outfit.

“I’m back!”

Hellion suddenly appeared through a heap of bubbles. His cheek puffed out like that of a squirrel, “It seems that our Zagrya aren’t strong enough. It’s good that people recorded it and it’s art, but the police were involved, and snipers too. And what’s more? _Pretty Cure?_ I should’ve noticed her in that cave sooner!”

“We have already cognizanted the matter.” The maiden spoke with that same tone. “It was auspicious for you, returning here without a scratch. Now, please do not disturb our assembly.”

“Alright, alright.” He wearily took his seat. “But Milady Molly, what should we do with her? And will Lord Iceberg be mad?”

“I am quite dubious about her fighting alone. There will likely be more people like her recruited in the future.” The person called Molly fixed her mask as if it was her glasses. “And please do not worry, Lord Iceberg will not deliver punishment just because of that trivial matter.”

There was a hand raising from the people, and the two halted their conversation.

Molly called the one who raised their hand, “Yes, Mister Propellian?”

The man called Propellian stood up, “Apologies for my interception, Milady. Before resuming our meeting, I’d like to be the one who’ll encounter that ‘Pretty Cure’ being next time.”

“I have no objections.” Molly fixed her mask once again. “What about everyone?”

Silence. No one made a move, aside from Hellion who shook his head continuously. She interpreted it as a “No.”

“As Lord Iceberg has concurred with your request as well, then you have our permission to do so. Shall we continue our assembly?”

* * *

“Please! Mom, dad!”

Seika’s parents glanced at each other, and to their daughter, then to the cage she was holding. Gannet was resting inside, he also used his puppy eyes technique he learned from Seika.

“Let me take care of this little guy! Please~”

“How can you just say that out of the blue?” Seika’s mother asked. “You told me that you rescued him yesterday, and have grown attached to him, but...”

Her father continued, “What about his food and waste? And cleaning the cage too. You have to do it by yourself if you want to take care of him.”

“I’ll do it! I’ll do anything! Gannet is a smart guy, right Gannet?”

The seagull chirped in return, as he was forbidden to speak when there were normal people, such as her parents, around.

In the end, they agreed. To them, it was their daughter adopting a new pet. But to both Seika and Gannet, that was a whole new beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a person who rambles a lot, so this might be a couple of lines longer than expected.  
> This is the second time I've ever written a Precure fanseries (the first one is written by my mother tongue, so...). But this one will be more elaborate, and it will focus more on environmental issues (and it's written by an extreme meat-eater...).  
> As English is not my native language, so some sentences just... make no senses, or there are flaws on the way. I'll be sure to double-check each chapter, and have a person edit any grammatical mistakes. But if there are anything you don't understand, just ask me!  
> If you want to know more about the series, [this](https://fancureparadise.fandom.com/wiki/Maiden_Ships_Pretty_Cure!) is the wiki page of it.


	2. Izbrannik

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Izbrannik" means "choice" in Russian.

Nothing else happened after the day Seika became a Pretty Cure. No Zagrya, no Hellion or other villains of the sort. The beach was closed for an indefinite amount of time as the consequences of the fight that day had not just returned back to normal, and more investigations would be carried out as well.

Gannet was kept in a cage in Seika’s room as a pet. The two used whatever they could to keep everything a secret, but still found troubles whenever a person was talking about what happened last time, and had to distract them.

Today, Seika and Mio accompanied each other again. Mio went regressively, with her hands behind her head.

“You know,” She began. “After hearing people talking about the person who introduced herself as a Pretty Cure, I wish I had been there too.”

This statement made Seika jerk in her tracks.

“But I had to stay home in my shop. What a waste...”

The Hokaze household owned a shop named  _ Hokaze Craft Store _ , selling various handmade items, mostly for tourists as souvenirs. However, since the people coming to the town had been reduced, the family had to temporarily close the shop until recently, and they had to sort out the items and clean the shop for a couple of days.

Realizing Seika had stopped, Mio called out to her, “Is there anything wrong? Like, about that talking bird you’ve just got?”

“N-No! Really! Gannet is a good guy!” Seika stammered.

“Lately, you’re so weird, y’know.” Mio walked to Seika’s spot, resting her hands on the latter’s shoulders. “If there is anything, just tell me, okay?”

“Y-Yeah.” She avoided eye contact with Mio. “Thanks, Mio-chan...”

That night, Seika buried her face on the pillow, its fluffy surface muffed up her moans a little. Gannet was asleep in his cage in a hilarious position, she did not want to disturb her parents and him.

But Mio was so kind! She could tell her about her secrets, just a little would be okay, right?

Seika rolled across her bed and groaned. She should have gone to sleep.

* * *

“Tange-san!”

“Huh? W-Wha…?”

Seika got up, startled. The teacher had called her. Was she asleep in class?

“Would you mind reading the next paragraph, please?”

“Y-Yes!”

Seika frantically grabbed her book, but held it upside down, earning tremendous laughs from her classmates. She held it in the right direction again, but after scanning the text in her book, she could not find where to read next. Kanji characters began to circulate in her mind, her brain strugglingly found the right way to read them. In reality, she was standing still like a statue, the teacher’s patience also had gone out.

“Please don’t doze off like that next time.” She sighed. “You can sit now.”

Mio facepalmed. The laughter continued for a couple of minutes before gradually going away, some students still made that joke every now and then.

* * *

It was lunch. The hallway clattered with students’ chatter while eating.

Seika grumpily poked her chicken nuggets with her chopstick, before skewering them and put them in her mouth, chewing slowly.

“Hey, that’s mine!” Mio exclaimed, snatching back her friend’s tamagoyaki in return.

Seika sighed between her chews, “I wouldn’t have been scolded if that had been English...”

At school, Seika was quite skilled in English and Sociology, but when it came to Mathematics or Literature, she could not help but surrender to those Kanjis and equations. PE was not her strongpoint either, although last time she fought as if it was no big deal.

“By the way,” Mio asked. “I’ve never met that talking bird of yours. Mind if I come to your house today?”

Seika flinched, almost choked on her food.

“Uh… Well...”

A little bit did not hurt, it seemed. Besides, Gannet was a good bird.

* * *

That afternoon.

“Be sure to… Uh, keep quiet, okay?” Seika lightly forewarned. “Mio-chan is a bit… straightforward. I don’t know if she will blurt out anything when finding out the truth but...”

“Better safe than sorry, I know!” Gannet shrugged, if he ever had a pair of shoulders to begin with. “I’ll pretend to sleep, and if that girl really wants to see me, then I’ll keep silent. No prob!”

The sound of the doorbell rang almost right after that. Coming down the stairs, she overheard Mio talking with her mother. Her classmate headed to the stairs.

Mio spotted her, “Yo.”

“H-Hi.” Seika lightly waved back.

This was the first time she had ever seen Mio in her usual clothes, as the two only met in school, and she did not go to the store much to meet her outside. Mio wore a simple green and white jacket, and a violet T-shirt with the word “Freedom” written in white in a calligraphic font. She also wore a pleated skirt and black thigh-high socks, emphasizing her long and slim legs. Her twintails were tied with green clover-shaped ornaments.

“Can I come in?” She asked.

“Sure! It’s a little bit messy, though...”

Seika’s room was quite simple, like an average girl’s room you can find anywhere. A bed with slightly messy sheets and stuffed animals, a desk, a closet, Gannet’s cage hanging near the window.

“It’s nice for you to have a bed.” Mio sighed jokingly. “I have to sleep on futons spread on the floor. Pretty cold, but still manageable.”

“Is it?”

Seika really did not know much about Mio’s circumstances. At one time, her bed had to be replaced because she grew taller, and sleeping in futon was so uncomfortable that she had to sleep with her parents to wait for her new bed to be done. But Mio’s family slept like that everyday.

“Ah, what about that Gannet?” Mio asked. “Where is he?”

“He’s sleeping, actually.” Seika laughed nervously. “So… What are we going to do?”

“I wanna play with him, but okay.” The other shrugged. “Are there any good songs for me to hear? How about doing homework so we’ll have free time at night?”

“Great idea!”

* * *

The afternoon was… if it was described by an adjective, it would be “uneventful”. The two did their homework, listened to music, and did normal stuff.

After Mio left, Gannet finally had a chance to open his eyes.

“Jeez.” He tried to wipe his eyes with his wings. “She occasionally peeped at me to see if I was awake.”

“Did she?” Seika raised an eyebrow. “Or she might know something...”

“But I think that’s okay.”

“Why?”

“‘Cause she has potential to become a Pretty Cure. What a small world.”

“WHAT?!”

Seika almost jumped from her seat. Working together with Mio… She looked petite at first glance, but when it came to speed, who knew her agility would have limits? Besides, that could be a chance for the two to understand each other more.

“By the way, how do you know that…?”

“She has some strange aura around her.” Gannet replied. “The same one when you first transformed, remember?”

“Do you think Iceberg will know it soon?”

“We should prepare for the worst. Hellion looks quite young, so he might be reckless. But what if Iceberg dictates a stronger and more experienced one this time?”

Seika wondered if she should tell Mio about the Pretty Cure thing. Mio was always busy, from the schoolwork, clubwork to the work in her home. It was true that her younger brother Aito could handle the chores, but that was it. He could not know how to speak properly with customers visiting the shop, and their parents were not that healthy to begin with. Adding one more hard work to her list could only make things worse for her.

As her parents were going to stay at work today, she decided to have dinner in Takoya Diner - which was the only restaurant available in the town.

She ordered a simple meal with steak and rice. While waiting for the order, there was noise in the back of the diner. Following it was a suspiciously eerie silence. She wondered what could happen.

Then, the back door of the place was thrashed violently. Those who were unfortunately sitting there fled for their lives. A person shouted, “There’s a monster again!”

People began to evacuate, but with more chaos as the police were absent. They pushed chairs and tables, stomping on others’ shoes, even trying to break the window to escape. The scream belonging to Zagrya in the background did not calm things down either.

Seika was not an exception. She was stomped by other people, leaving behind countless footprints on her clothing. She tried to sneak into the kitchen, using the havoc to not let anyone notice.

Finally, she crouched down under a table. She wondered if Gannet were here, but Zagrya was eventually in her line of sight. Its body was a bright green dustbin, surrounded with trash and food waste. Instead of Hellion, there was another man. He was noticeably older than Hellion with dark skin, his curly purple hair with highlights almost covered his left eye. He stood dignifiedly with his arm folded, eyes scanning around as if waiting for someone. Seika assumed that could be herself.

The restaurant might be damaged further if she did not take action. Not taking any more time waiting for Gannet to come, she held out her Navigation Gyrocompass.

“Pretty Cure… Navigation!”

She said the phrase with more confidence this time.

“LAUNCH!”

A bright golden light engulfed the entire kitchen, even Propellian himself started at the scene.

“The lodestar guiding through infelicities, Cure Galliot!”

After mere seconds, she jumped outside, facing Propellian while saying her introduction phrase.

“So you are ‘Pretty Cure’ that the brat has been talking about, hmm?” The man sneered. “What a bantam. Show me how you can fight with that frilly costume of yours. Zagrya.”

Upon hearing that, the creature rushed towards her at once. Galliot also prepared herself to charge at it. Zagrya began to spill banana peels on the road, causing her to trip and fall.

“Ow…!” She groaned.

“The fight has just started, and you fell?” Propellian shook his head. “I just wonder how you could defeat the brat last time. Might be from sheer luck.”

Galliot stood back up and tried to attack Zagrya again, this time trying not to step on anything it spilled. She glanced on her energy bar. The stored power only reached half of it. It could be purified, but she needed to buy some time and store her stamina.

The noise of the crowd began to fade. Some people might return to get their belongings, or check if their acquaintances were okay. She had to finish things quickly!

“Galliot!”

The familiar voice reached her. It was Gannet’s.

“I didn’t realize that your parents locked the cage, so it took me time to get out.” He sighed and gasped. “Oh, that guy! I saw him. He’s Propellian, one of the people working with Iceberg the longest.”

“Glad that you know.” Propellian raised his eyebrows, staring at Gannet. “And I know why there are Pretty Cures.  _ You _ survive in our first stage of the plan.”

Zagrya’s wail halted the conversation. It spilled some more trash and charge at Galliot with high speed. She blocked it just in time, and lightly revolted on what she was touching. She needed to use  _ way _ more hand sanitizer after this.

She realized the bar reached its full amount, mentally thanking Gannet for buying her some time.

She immediately attacked Zagrya, not taking more time for Propellian to do anything else.

“Pretty Cure... Kalavirta Undulation!”

Zagrya disappeared in an instant, with the dustbin fully cleaned and the garbage was impeccably classified.

“I just came here to check how you fight and your strength only, so let’s meet another time.” Propallian simply said just that and burrowed.

She detransformed, “This time is harder than I thought...”

“It’s okay. You’ll get better over time.” Gannet reassured. “Just go home for now. Have you eaten yet?”

Seika shook her head, “Guess I’ll just stick with cup ramen for tonight.”

She began to pack up and go before someone else saw her.

But it was too late...

* * *

“W-What the hell was that…?”

It was completely oblivious to Seika, but Mio had been there. She was too lazy to do any cooking, and as there were sales in the diner, she decided to buy some take-outs. But upon arriving, she saw people rushing out from inside.

She wondered what happened, and saw a monster causing havoc there, with another man accompanying it. She just managed to hide in the bushes. Minutes later, a girl jumped out and apprehended it.

Wasn’t that girl… familiar in some way? She looked like…

No, that must have been a hallucination. But she briefly saw Gannet there as well, and only one person she knew was with him… It could not be… right?

Since little, Mio never believed fairy tales or miracles. They were just too… childish, in some way. She had wondered why the Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother survived after being eaten by a wolf, or the Little Mermaid gave up her voice just to be with a man she just met.

And in magic was the same. Everything could be explained scientifically. She did pay attention to the story about a monster from that time, but she treated it like a kind of magic show, no less.

But by now, she saw it with her own eyes.

Mio had asked Seika many times, but the latter would only deny it, so she would not do that again.

Instead, she would find the answer on her own.

And the first step was…

* * *

“My, it’s Mio-chan again!” Seika’s mother greeted her with a warm smile. “Sorry, but she’s out right now. Could you wait in her room for a moment?”

It was the next day after school. Mio assumed that Seika was doing something suspicious again. The seagull would likely go with her, but she needed to confirm first. Of course, she respected one’s privacy, but if she knocked on the door, anyone inside would definitely know that was an outsider. Who would ever knock if they were going to their own room?

She decided to eavesdrop. Okay, she was a hypocrite.  _ This _ time, she  _ did _ meddle on one’s privacy.

No sounds at all. She did not have a keen sense of hearing whatsoever.

She checked the door. It was not locked.

_ Sorry, Seika. _ She exclaimed mentally.

And open the door.

The sunset light from the window illuminated the room. It was not that messy as of last time. Perhaps Seika cleaned it.

“Welcome home, Sei- Wha...?”

Gannet was resting in the cage, seeing the door opened. He attempted to greet Seika like usual, but immediately halted.

Mio frowned, “So you can talk, after all.”

Gannet tried to chirp like how a normal bird should, but upon seeing the girl’s serious face, he could not even utter a sound.

Coincidentally, Seika arrived home and went upstairs. Seeing Mio and Gannet having a staring contest, she somehow figured what had just happened.

“Seems that I came at the wrong time...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The wiki has been updated, including Seika’s appearance and descriptions of other characters! You can see it [here](https://fancureparadise.fandom.com/wiki/Maiden_Ships_Pretty_Cure!).


	3. Segelvind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Segelvind" means "sailing wind" in Swedish.

“Can you prove what you’ve just said is the truth?”

The three were sitting inside Seika’s room. Mio asked after hearing what Gannet told her.

“You saw Seika transformed, right? Isn’t that obvious?” The seagull talked back.

“And you said that I have potential?”

“Yep! You two will form a nice duo for sure!”

Mio glanced at Seika, who in turn shrugged and smiled nervously. She was still skeptical about this. With this, she could protect the town but…

Mio scratched her head, “I’ll reconsider.”

“I know it’s sudden but, even if you refuse, it’s okay.” Seika spoke up. “The choice’s fully yours.”

* * *

Mio walked home alone, with a bag of ramen cups on hand. Seika’s family insisted she eat dinner with the former’s family, but her family had yet to eat dinner, so she had to come home.

Her house was kind of like a traditional type, with the noticeable brownish colour from wood and moss surrounding it, a sign written “Hokaze Craft Store” was hung on top. She opened the door with the other hand and stepped inside, “I’m home.”

“Jeez.” A voice belonging to a boy rang out. “Mio-nee, you’re late!”

“There was some stuff that happened on the way, so...” Mio held out her bag. “Only these are available.”

The boy held the bag for her, “So no meat today?”

“Yeah, sorry.” She sighed. “Well, momma is a vegan anyway. Aito, be sure to prepare the noodles for them while I’m taking a bath, okay?”

Aito faked a salute, “Alright!” and rushed into the kitchen.

There were four people in her family: Her mother, father, her brother Aito, and herself. Her parents gave birth to her when they were in the age that was not appropriate to call “young” anymore. Yet they still did their best not to make her alone by giving her a younger sibling - Aito, and raising both of them very well. Her household was not wealthy enough to be called “middle-class” either. The times when nobody came to her shop for days took a toll on the family. Luckily, there had been no debts as there was some cash saved by her parents.

And the store opened again.

On that day, when Seika became a Pretty Cure.

Mio had yet to thank her. But was a mere “Thank you” enough? According to Gannet, being a Pretty Cure was not that easy. They had to fight almost everyday, balancing lives between their two egos, and keeping secret to others in an indefinite amount of time.

If she could, she would join them. For expressing her gratitude? Because of boredom? Or she genuinely wanted to do so?

She did not know.

* * *

“Sorry, for letting you be involved in this.”

The next day, Seika said that to her.

“Um, if you don’t want to team up with me, that’s fi-”

“Wait, no! Don’t just jump to conclusions like that!” Mio flustered. “I just, uh… haven’t made my decision yet. It just literally hit me like a truck, y’know...”

“So… Have you decided?”

“I-”

Suddenly, a sound of an explosion echoed in the distance. It was quite far from the school, but that was enough to make the students inside panic.

“Again, huh?” Seika sighed, attempting to scratch her head, but touched her beret instead. “Mio-chan, just hide somewhere safe, alright, I’ll-”

“I’ve not finished my sentence yet!” The latter interrupted. “Lemme go with you.”

* * *

“Seika! And Mio, too!” Gannet also flew in the two’s location, which was in the forest not too far away from school, as they snuck out in the havoc. “I heard the explosion, but it seems far from here...”

“I think I’ll transform first, then it’ll be quicker to find the source of it.” Seika replied. “Mio-chan, cover your eyes or you’ll be blind~”

“There’s no time for jokes, you know that...” The latter sighed and did as she was told.

“I just want to liven up the mood...” Seika stuck out her tongue playfully, holding out her Navigation Gyrocompass. **“Pretty Cure Navigation, LAUNCH!”**

Seconds later, she jumped out from the golden aura surrounding her, **“The lodestar guiding through infelicities, Cure Galliot!”**

“Why are you saying that anyway?” Mio opened her eyes. “No one can hear that except Gannet and myself.”

“I don’t know, it just blurts out from my mouth.” Galliot said, she could scratch her head now that the beret was gone. “By the way, isn’t this cute? Perhaps you’ll have a costume like this, or even cuter!”

“Yeah…” Mio replied with a deadpan tone. “Now, shouldn’t we find the-”

“So you are here, Cure Galliot.”

A bass voice intervened the two’s conversation. That same voice belonged to the man Galliot had encountered.

“Wait, there aren’t any Zagrya today.” Gannet wondered.

“True. Because I will fight with her alone.” Propellian pointed in Galliot’s direction, while the mentioned person still showed her costume to Mio, who was glancing at the man with concern.

“Hey, Sei- I mean, Galliot, he’s...”

A punch flew in Galliot’s direction. She quickly evaded the attack. Mio, with her reflexes, dodged it just in time, and with Gannet’s lead, she followed him to find a hiding place.

Now, it finally became a one-on-one duel.

Galliot’s energy bar was only filled in partially. That was not enough to make an attack. She jumped onto a tree nearby, and used gravity itself to descend and delivered a kick to Propellian. However, he did not let himself be hit that easily.

The two continued to exchange punches and kicks, until Galliot herself ran out of stamina. She lied on the ground, out of breath.

Propellian summoned something in his hand. A gun.

He aimed it on Galliot’s forehead, still keeping his distances.

“This ends here.” He said. “Any last words?”

Galliot panted, “T-There are.”

And with another kick, she snatched the gun away from Propellian, but the moment she held it, it exploded. The sound was exactly the same one that had caused havoc at the school. Scratches and wounds are seen on Galliot’s left cheek and shoulder. Blood was leaking out of them. She quickly wiped it and began to rise on her feet again, but stumbled right after.

“Pathetic.” Propellian smirked yet again. “Your way of fighting is too simple, not to mention your thick-witted naivety and lack of attention.”

Mio stood, watching in the distance, although she did not have any idea of what they had been talking about, she knew too well that Galliot was in danger. She could save her, but should she do it?

Another gun was summoned, with the head placed firmly on Galliot’s forehead this time. She could not do anything as she was frozen in fear, while Propellian calmly pulled the trigger.

A sharp, loud noise resounded through the forest.

Galliot lay on the ground, face first.

And so did the black-haired girl with twintails. Mio had rushed out and pushed Galliot away. That was a matter of seconds.

“A mundane human came and intervened in our duel, huh?” That was the first time the three had seen Propellian frown.

Mio spat back, “What? You’re trying to _kill_ her!”

“If Pretty Cures are eliminated, our plan will succeed. That is for your own good.”

“For _our_ own good, you say?” She stood up. “Stop with that _bullshit_ ! You think I’ll forgive you because of that? For hurting my peer- no, my _friend_?!”

A green aura began to gradually appear around Mio. As Gannet lightly gasped in the distance, it manifested into the same Navigation Gyrocompass that Seika had, the only difference was that it was decorated with bubbles and waves patterns.

Galliot’s mouth agave, eyes opened wide, “Mio-chan…!”

“The words, huh? I remember!” Mio quickly grabbed the trinket with a grin. “It’s showtime! **Pretty Cure Navigation, LAUNCH!** ”

After that, almost the entire background changed into a gorgeous view of the ocean. Mio found herself surfing on a board, wearing a one-piece swimsuit. Then, one by one, other pieces of clothing appeared with each stream of waves that hit her. The gloves, the coat, the stockings; each of them had various shades of green. Her twintails loosen up and turned to a deep purple colour, forming another similar hairstyle, yet more extravagant. Clover-shaped ornaments adorned it, with pearls tied the twintails up. The transformation device rested on her hip. The surfboard disappeared into countless bubbles. She glided through the platform manifested after that, and struck a pose filled with enthusiasm.

**“The sailing wind ventures through the sea, Cure Yacht!”**

“Cure… Yacht?” Both Galliot and Gannet said in unison.

“Wait, huh?” Mio, or rather, Cure Yacht, stopped and turned around to see her new appearance. “Hey, the words really blurted from my mouth!”

“I told you.” Galliot said, could not hide her joy. “And you transformed! How cute!”

As she was about to give her companion a hug, a purple bullet dashed through the gap of the two.

Yacht hissed, “Right, we’re not done yet...”

The two stood up together, back to back. Propellian also prepared himself.

“Yacht, I think you should do the attack!” Gannet flew towards them. “Galliot is exhausted, and I believe hers won’t be that effective to him.”

Yacht nodded, “Okay! But we need to buy time, right?”

“Yes! I’ll also do my best to distrac- Gah!”

Another bullet came, almost blowing up Gannet’s wing. The latter let out a shriek, “Hey, that’s rude!” and plummeted towards him. “You shall pay for thiiiis!”

“Wait, when did this chapter become a comedy? I thought it’s my debut!” Yacht screamed while Propellian was distracted by Gannet. She dashed in his direction and used her legs to snatch the gun, kicking it into the distance. It exploded after hitting a tree nearby.

Yacht’s energy bar almost reached its full power. However, Peropellian stopped his movements. Gannet was flabbergasted and halted his attacks. The former only glared at the Cures one last time before disappearing in a flash.

Both of them detransformed. Mio held her chin in thought, “Why did he just…?”

Seika fell onto her knees, “I can’t walk anymore...”

Mio rushed to her aid and lifted her up, “Oof, you’re heavy...”

“Am I?” Seika chuckled. “By the way, you said you were my friend...”

The latter formed a smile, “You are, and will always be.”

* * *

“The heck?! You’re _sooo close_ to defeating them!” Hellion crunched on his chips, saying between his chews. “Is it because Molly ordered you to do so?”

“Don’t you dare call Milady that without honorifics.” Propellian said. “I also have the same question. She’s just told me to come back out of the blue.”

Hellion slurped his milk tea, “Uh-huh… Maybe I’ll go next? _That person_ is still on hiatus anyway.”

“Good luck. But we have to wait for them to stop staying alert.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just like what you said, Mio, this chapter _is_ a comedy.


	4. Lagnamn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Lagnamn" means "team name" in Swedish.

“This is just _unbelievable_ !” Gannet happily flew around in Seika’s room, where the two girls and himself were in for a small celebration. “We have two Pretty Cures now, _two_!”

“It means… We are a team now, right?” Seika clasped her hands in thought. “Do we need to have a name for it?”

Mio bluntly replied. “That’s unnecessary to me.”

“Eh?! Why?”

“We just need to confront a villain whenever they appear, and punch, and kick the monsters along with them, right? No need for gaudy things.”

“WHAT?!” Gannet gasped. “How can you say that?”

“I’m just saying.” She shrugged. “Tell me if there's any names that come to your mind, but it has to be short.”

* * *

“Since our Cure names are all associated with ships, our team name also has to go with that.” Seika tapped her pen on the table, a small notebook in hand, listing anything she found plausible. “Gannet, can you check these?”

The latter flew onto her desk, “Sure!” and began to read the names.

“Hmm… _‘Cargo Pretty Cure’_ is a bit too rough. _‘Navigation Pretty Cure’_ ... You’re not some kind of compass or anything. _‘Marine Pretty Cure’_... No, I don’t like that.”

Seika mowed, “Do you need to be _that_ harsh?”

“What about your homework? I thought you were going to have a test tomorrow?”

“OH MY GOSH I forgot!” She let out a scream, starting to scramble around her to find her syllabuses that the teachers had given to her.

* * *

“Now, please put your answer sheets on the top table when your name is called.”

Seika sighed. She managed to do all the questions on the test, but about whether her answers were right or not… She did not want to think about it.

“Yo.” Mio came to her desk. “Have you thought about a name yet?”

“I have, actually.”

“Cool! What is it?”

“I’ll tell you on the way home.”

As the day ended, they accompanied each other again, holding hands this time.

“That’s a pretty good name.” Mio complimented.

“Is it?”

“Uh-huh. Do we need a pose too?”

“Hehe, maybe yes. How abo-”

“Wait.”

Mio’s cheerful tone became serious.

“Huh? What?”

“I feel… something.”

Seika cocked her head, “What do you mean by tha- Ah!”

This was the exact same spot when she sensed Hellion’s presence! What if he appeared again?

“I think we should go to the beach.”

* * *

The barrier surrounding the beach was more secure this time. Bits and pieces of trash could still be found in the area. But the place was dead silent.

Then, Mio’s Navigation Gyrocompass shone with a green light. She immediately took it out, “What’s happening?”

Gannet was not here, so there would not be any explanations given to them. Mio opened it up. On the luminescent map of the town, a red spot remarkably stood out.

“Perhaps that’s where a villain is?” Seika wondered. But the spot is the beach itself. Then where would they be?

Suddenly, a deafening sound came from the ground, and a Zagrya bursted out underneath. It was made from an abandoned oil tank. More black substances began to spill around the beach yet again. Hellion, standing on top of its head, grinned when he saw the two, “Hey there! We have a new girl this time huh?”

“So that’s the guy who the police mentioned last time...” Mio opened her compass. “It’s showtime, Seika!”

The latter also took her trinket out as well, “Yeah!”

**“Pretty Cure Navigation, LAUNCH!”**

Both of them called out their transformation phrase in unison. The background changed into a mix of green and golden. Mio surfed on the board while Seika hugged her from behind, pieces of clothing appearing one by one. As the ocean view became a golden platform made of sand, they held hands and jumped onto it, albeit Seika fell in the process. They stood up and striked their respective poses.

**"The lodestar guiding through infelicities, Cure Galliot!"**

**"The sailing wind ventures through the sea, Cure Yacht!"**

Then, they stood back to back with another pose, “Maiden Ships Pretty Cure!”

“Nice, nice!” Hellion clapped his hands. “But let’s see if you can do that farcical pose anytime soon. Zagrya!”

The creature let out a shrill, unintelligible shriek. Yacht delivered a kick right onto its face, but the tank was so slippery that she tripped and fell. Galliot followed suit, but as soon as her hand contacted the tank, it was stained with oil and she could not touch anything. When she held her compass, it slipped and dropped to the ground.

“I think I can deal with it.” Yacht panted. “Your attack needs both of your hands, and I still have one leg.”

“Yeah, I don’t think I can do anything else either...”

Yacht dodged Zagrya’s attacks some more until her energy bar reached its full power. An energy ball was summoned, and she used everything she got and kicked it towards Zagrya.

**“Pretty Cure Risqué Tourbillon!”**

The energy ball turned into a water tendril with howling wind, enveloping Zagrya, turning it into a brand new oil tank.

“Shoot, again?” Hellion sighed melodramatically, “Maybe I’ll try not to stand on the sidelines and fight with you properly next time.” and vanished in a flash.

After checking if the tank is completely normal, the two Cures detransformed. Mio tapped on it, “What should we do with this?”

“Give it to my dad?” Seika scratched her head. “It can be used as gasoline, and he needs it for his motorbike.”

* * *

A luxurious black limousine parked in front of a palatial mansion. A middle-aged man wearing a plain suit and tie came out as the chauffeur opened the door for him. He stepped inside as the gate opened automatically, revealing inside was a commodious garden filled with rare, colourful species of plants.

As the butlers and maid greeted him, a girl ran out, hugging him dearly.

“Papa! I was waiting for you!”

“I’m home, my daughter.” He chuckled in return. “Would you like to know why I come home so soon?”

“You said you’ll have a business trip, so you come to say goodbye, don't you...” She fumbled with her fingers. “Will I be all alone?”

He squatted down to match her height, “You won’t. Because you will come with me.”

“Really?!” Her face filled with joy. “Where will we go together? Toranomon? Omotesando? Or Azabu?”

“A town named Funabashi, quite far from here. We will stay there for some time, my daughter.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Toranomon, Omotesando and Azabu are [real places in Japan](https://jpninfo.com/91307), where most of the residents there are wealthy.


	5. Chonyeonsaeng

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Chonyeonsaeng" means "new student" in Korean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [The wiki](https://fancureparadise.fandom.com/wiki/Maiden_Ships_Pretty_Cure!) has been added lots of information! And if you have time, please check out [another Pretty Cure series](https://fancureparadise.fandom.com/wiki/Whodunit%3F_Pretty_Cure!)[]() of mine as well!

“I’m quite skeptical about this at first, but after observing, things seem to get more and more problematic by the minute.”

There were various men seen on the beach. One of them had an distinguishable red hair colour, the letters **“Wataru Ushio”** written on his nametag.

Other men came to his side. One saluted, “Sir, all of the samples have been collected!”

“Put them in the containers, be sure to keep them separately.”

As the men did as they were told, his phone buzzed in his pocket.

He picked it up, “Yes, it’s Ushio.”

Hearing what the caller said, he simply answered, “It’s good that the paperwork is done. Please take good care of her.”

Another pause, and he nodded, “I hope my daughter won’t cause much trouble, she has been living a pampered life after all. Just ignore her if she does anything ludicrous. Yes, thank you.”

* * *

“A n-new STUDENT?!”

In Seika and Mio’s class, people were gossiping about said topic at lunchtime. According to the teacher, the new student was female and two years younger than them.

Mio eyes twinkled, “It means… She’s the same age as my bro!”

“What if they are in the same class?” Seika followed enthusiastically.

“Mio-nee!”

A familiar voice called out to Mio. A boy with azure hair colour and eyes ran to her direction, the unfinished lunchbox in his arms.

He bowed to Seika, “Hello, Tange-senpai!” and quickly sat next to his sister, opening his box to continue enjoying the meal.

Seika asked curiously, “Why are you coming here, Aito-kun?”

“It’s just… you see, the new girl is in fact in the same class as mine,” Aito took a bite of a broccoli piece before continuing. “And I wanna share the info I had with you two.”

“Hey, that's great!”

“Not so fun, though...” He shook his head. “Well, things were like this...”

* * *

_“As you know, there will be a transfer student in our class today!”_

_The whole class applauded loudly while the teacher herself could not hide her excitement. After months had there been a new student, who could not be happy about that?_

_“Now, please come in.”_

_There were noises on the other side, as if the door was pushed and kicked violently._

_“Um… Dear, it’s a sliding door. You need to-”_

_“I KNOW THAT!”_

_A squeaky voice squalled, and the door was slided formidably. The girl stepped in, puffing up her cheeks. She had shoulder-length peachy pink hair which was cut into a bob, with two buns tied with violet ribbons. Her eyes were the same colour as her hair. The uniform she wore noticeably had more frills in it._

_The teacher gave her a piece of chalk, “Now, can you please write your name on the board and introduce yourself?”_

_She attentively looked at it, then said, “Can you write instead? I don’t want to dirty my hands.”_

_Some students began to gossip. Aito and his friends only managed to let the word “Huh?” escape from their mouths._

_The teacher sighed, “Only this time, alright?” and wrote three characters on the board._

_The girl placed her hand on her hips, “Attention! I’m going to introduce my magnificent self to you all! I won’t repeat, so no questions except when I want them, okay?”_

_The class fell silent, although some students still had confusing expressions on their faces._

_She made an “Ahem!” and puffed up her chest._

_“My name is **Hizuru Ushio** . ‘Ushio’ means ‘tide’, while ‘Hizuru’ means ‘scarlet crane’. Just so you know, my papa is a detective, so don’t you dare hide any secrets from me. Not to mention my family is veeeery rich, so of course low-incomers like you won’t have a chance to be in the same rank as I am, let alone surpass me. Call me ‘Princess Hizuru’, okay? Or at least ‘Ushio-sama’. My hobbies are-” _

_There were chats arised from below. Hizuru stomped her foot, “HEY! I have yet to finish my introduction!”_

_But no one cared. The teacher told her to go to her seat, but she huffed right away, “WHAAAAT?! Why do I have to sit here ? I don’t want to sit with those trashy brats, and they’re not worthy to sit with me either! Give me a seperate desk and chair, quick ! And they have to be made of African Blackwood!”_

* * *

“Aaaand… She still had to sit there nonetheless.”

Aito shrugged and continued to eat his lunch.

Seika furrowed, “Are you sure you’re not exaggerating?”

“You can ask my friends to confirm.”

“Hearing you say that makes me wanna punch her in the face.” Mio facepalmed. “I know you’re a good guy and wouldn’t hit girls, but thinking she’s rich so she can do anything she wants? _Really_?”

“By the way,” Aito tapped his chopsticks on the lunchbox. “Her lunch looks really appetizing, I must admit. Y’know, a set consisting of a lunchbox tower full of delicious food?”

Mio jumped from her seat, “Where does she sit? I have to see!” and rushed to the underclassmen building after hearing the answer.

“W-Wait!” Seika quickly grabbed her lunchbox, chasing after her agile friend.

* * *

The set of lunch that Aito mentioned was visible even when it was seen outside the classroom. There were rectangular boxes of red and black colour, decorated with complicated designs that stacked into a tower. Hizuru was eating her meal delicately, refusing to share it with anyone. Even the smell of the food itself made people know that the meal was not anything that could be bought and consumed easily.

Mio drooled literally. Seika was uncharacteristically deadpan, “Should we go inside-”

“Oh, hi senpais.” An underclassman came and greeted them. “It seems that you want to meet someone in our class. Would you like me to call them out?”

“Uh… No, thanks!” Seika grabbed Mio’s hand and dashed away.

* * *

Hizuru hummed a cheerful tone while walking home. From today, there would be no limousine taking her home, as the streets were too small for it to go in. It was quite fine for her, though sitting on soft, leather cushions in an air-conditioned car made her more relaxed.

Her house was a small villa in the outskirts of the town. It was quite big compared to other houses in the town, but to her, that was far less convenient than her house back in where she had lived. Only a minimal number of servants were brought in to take care of her, and she had to study in a new school full of indignant people, which is incomparable to her previous prestigious academy.

At least she could be with her father now, that was the only thing she could think of.

Hizuru decided to do her homework. As she was about to take the books from her bag, a sound resonated in the distance.

She ran outside, and saw students from the university nearby running out of the buildings. Some took out their phones to record the scenes. Bits and pieces of debris could be seen spattering from afar.

“Could it be… The things papa is investigating?”

She tried to call her father using her smartphone, but to no avail as the telegraph pole had malfunctioned.

Hizuru ran back to her home. Of course, other people would inform her father and he would be there, but she had to call him to ensure he was safe, and not to make him worry as well.

There was an emergency radio and also a telephone in the basement, if she was not mistaken. She quickly ran to the storage room above it, and by unlocking a tagger cover via a code, it opened automatically. She climbed below, grabbing the headset and dialed her father’s number as soon as she saw it.

The seconds that followed lasted as if they were an hour to her. Then, a familiar voice answered, “Hello?”

“Papa!” She called out in joyousness. “Are you okay?”

“I am, and I’m relieved that you’re too. But I have things to do, so-”

“It happened near our place!” She screamed. “Come quickly! I’m scared!”

Wataru’s voice had a scintilla of worriness. “Yes, we’re on the way!”

* * *

By the time the investigation team arrived, the anomaly was long gone. Witnesses were all in the dark, while the phones of those that recorded it were too dim.

“This is the first time I’ve ever failed...” Wataru sighed, and glanced at Hizuru hiding behind his back with a smile. “But at least, my daughter is safe.”

“Um… I want to show you this...” She held out her phone and entered the photo gallery.

One picture is seen. Hizuru had taken it before her father arrived.

Wataru’s eyes widened. The other members of the team could not believe their eyes.

The photo featured two silhouettes, although too blurry to recognise as whom, yet the spectators could still know they were two young girls, fighting a monster with abilities that only could belong to fairy tales.

“That could be evidence for our investigation...” Wataru murmured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [African Blackwood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalbergia_melanoxylon) is currently the most expensive type of wood in the world.


End file.
